Dawning of Time
by Gr1ev3r
Summary: A tale wound in the mystery of Albus Dumbledore and his friendship and battle with Gelert Grindelwald. In these passages, the history of Voldemort will be examined and adventured.
1. Preface

**Preface**

**A Dumbledore, Grindelwald, and Voldemort Saga**

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A butterfly floated loftily above the wind-strewn field, the morning sunlight shone in streams through the trees that littered the edge of the field. The blue, black-speckled butterfly hovered and fluttered above a small patch of lilies in the midst of the field. As it landed, the stalk of the white flower tilted to the side as the slight weight of the small insect pulled it closer to the earth, however, this change in position did not bother the butterfly, and it continued to do its natural duties and pollinate. Another gust of wind swept through the long grass of the field, the flowers dotted around the area blowing in the wind, the grass sweeping with the wind, giving a distinct impression of a green and yellow sea flowing elegantly. A petal from the lily upon which the butterfly was perched, was torn from its home, and fluttered away in the win, swept up and forced to travel along the path, following the breeze, weaving and twirling in the sky, lowering almost to the earth before catching another drift and floating back upwards, into the light of the sun, which would at once, cast a slight shadow upon the palm of a small girl who looked expectantly upon her hand, her face a little off, her light blue eyes scanning her palm to examine the shadow.

The small girl looked up to the sun to find the source of the shadow, however the bright star burned her eyes and she looked away, her eyes stinging as she rubbed them, trying to make her eyes feel a little better. The small white petal landed on her light blonde hair, however, the ending of its flight went unnoticed as the girl struggled to regain her sight. The petal settled into her hair, then slid off when she brought her head back up to the position previous. The girl muttered something under her breath as she looked back at her palm, the shadow was gone, as was the source of the shadow, which depressed her a little. Her cold blue eyes looked around to find it, but she could not see the fallen petal, sighing dejectedly, she sat on the grassy earth, cross-legged and sad, her eyes cast downwards at the earth, staring at a small flower, slightly wilted and hidden from the sunlight by the taller grass, a small daisy, carefully, she plucked it from the damp earth in the midst of the grass. Holding the daisy in the sunlight, she gazed upon its countenance, it reminded her of Aberforth, her second oldest sibling, the one that she preferred. Aberforth was constantly being put down in the light of the eldest of their family, Albus, who, she felt a little more wary of, as he was not nearly as nice to her, always off doing his own thing, things she never understood, but Aberforth was nice to her, he let her go for these walks and he played with her, but he, much like the daisy, was often strangled against the higher and more powerful and common plants. A gust of wind caught the daisy in her hands and bent the stem, and she dropped it, watching it as it fluttered on the breeze for moments before falling to the earth and resting.

It was getting cool out now, she looked up to the clouds to see the darkening horizon, the grey storm clouds coming her way. Naturally, she did not quite understand it herself, but anything that made noises and flashes of light as this was doing, it made her uncomfortable, but as long as Albus was still near, she knew she was safe. To find him was another matter, unfortunately, he was not within sight, and she felt panic rise in her breast, had he left her? She was so confused, her hands were clasped together and held against her chest in a slight panic, the storm clouds roiling in overhead, and her panic was growing ever so powerful. Tears gripped the corners of her eyes in a panic, and as the first crackle of thunder boomed over the field, she closed her eyes and drew her chin to her chest, however, a pair of warm, strong arms wrapped around her, and she felt her panic simply whoosh away, looking up to the person who had grasped her, it was, not whom she expected, Aberforth, who had a look on his face between rage and confusion, she did not quite understand why, but she still felt the warmth radiate from him, he was here at least, and she had completely forgotten about Albus being he one who was supposed to be with her. Hugging Aberforth tightly, she sobbed into his jacket as another boom of thunder echoed loudly, he pulled her closer, then picked her up, whispering into her ear, soothing her.

Being underage, he could not cast an Impervious charm, so they were about to get thoroughly wet, and as the first raindrops fell from the sky, he felt them land on the top of his head. It began to grow stronger in seconds, first it was smaller raindrops, then large ones, and it was getting frightfully cold now, the once warm and calm summer breeze was now a torrent of cold air and powerful, cutting winds. Arianna clung tightly to jacket that adorned Aberforth, and he tried to keep her as dry as possible, knowing that she was already ill enough without having to catch some sort of cold, especially when his elder brother was off doing whatever it was he was doing and neglecting his charges. Another bout of rage erupted within him, like a beast, clawing his insides trying to get out, Albus, his bastard of a brother had left Arianna in the field and gone of, most likely with that weirdo of a friend Gelert. Aberforth did not like Gelert, he had changed his brother, it was strange, and it was subtle, but over the one month the older boy had been here, he had managed to get inside of his brothers head, and although Albus had always been one to want to showoff, with Gelert here, it made him even more...He did not really know what to call it, distant sounded appropriate, but it was not quite powerful enough, as he almost removed himself from the family with what he thought were his new 'duties'.

Arianna made a noise from within his grip, and he noticed that they had found their way back to their home in Goderics Hollow, it was positively dreadful now, the rain was coming down in heaves, massive puddles had formed everywhere, and the noise was quite immense. Releasing the young girl, he watched as she made her way towards the door of the house, after placing her hand around the handle of the door, she looked back at Aberforth, who gave her a curt wave, then proceeded to follow her path, his boots throwing up masses of water as he stepped in puddles a little more forcefully than he normally would have, his fury quite immense. The door had swung shut after Arianna had entered, and when he opened the door he was greeted by quite an aggravating scene. Albus was kneeling next to Arianna, who was now sopping wet, he was completely dry, his blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, and his face taught with worry, from his position, he could hear the older male apologizing profusely to Arianna, trying to hug her, but she was fighting back against his grip, although unable to speak, she was quite effective at showing her emotions.

As she pulled away, Aberforth saw the defeated look in his brothers eyes, and the way his body seem to sag with depression, and it made him want to laugh, it was his own damned fault, if only he had taken care of his sister instead of wasting his time and going off with his mad ideas. As he moved forward to confront Albus, he saw Gelert looking slightly guilty, sitting on one of the puffy armchairs that were around the fireplace, and his anger grew, this was the source of his brothers negligence, his fists were balled up before he realized it, and he yelled at his brother. This had not been the first time the older of the two had left his sister for dead to come and plan with his partner in crime, and even though Aberforth knew that it was not entirely Albus, it still did not alleviate any rage at his brother. The man was incredibly smart and brilliant according to all his awards, how could he be so blind to not see that what he was doing was breaking his family apart, did all of his genius account for nothing past his books and his classes? It was infuriating, and he had never been so angry at his brother in his life, then again, Albus had never left Arianna so far away from their home as he had today, and the irresponsibleness of it all was overwhelming.

"Albus! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Albus Dumbledore, the blonde teen, kneeling on the floor and looking dejectedly down, looked up into his brothers infuriated face, no change in his face happened, he knew what he had done, and he knew he deserved this, so he said nothing as his brother yelled at him.

"What were you thinking? You left Arianna all alone in the field, anything could have happened to her, hell, it started to storm out there, and did you care? No, you're here, being all high and mighty with your good pal Grindelwald" Aberforth pointed an accusing finger at Gelert Grindelwald, whose face changed from one of somber neutrality to an angered look at being accused. "Arianna could have died, but you don't care, you're too busy being important to care about your family!"

Aberforth could tell that his words hit home with his elder brother, as his eyes always expressed his emotions, however, before words could escape his mouth, Grindelwald interrupted. His accent was actually quite thick, and this was the first time that Aberforth would speak directly to him, as opposed to the snatches of words which he would hear from the basement or from Albus room when it came to them planning things. The fact that he was going to try and defend his own actions at leaving a little, magically damaged girl on her own in the midst of a field because he had more important work to do, horrified and perplexed Aberforth in a manner that made him angrier than he was. This was spiraling out of control quickly, he had never been so enraged in his life, and he was wishing more than anything that his mother was here so she could deal with it all.

"Albus has more important work to do, ve are doing this, 'For the greater good', if he vasted his time worrying about things that lesser people could be doing, then he vould never accomplish anything!"

Aberforth roared with angered laughter at this.

"For the greater good'? Albus, she is your sister, your family is the greatest good you will ever have, and you!"

The angered teen turned from his kneeling brother to the now standing Grindelwald.

"You should just get the hell out of here, he does not need you, I don't know where you came from, but get back there before you corrupt his mind anymore than you already have with your poison"

Gelert drew his wand with such speed that no one could react in time, especially not Aberforth who was struck by a forceful spell which blew him backwards and into the closed door behind him, which splintered with the force of the strike.

"Albus needs nothing of this place, he and I, ve vill lord over all muggles and become kings, the magical vorld vill rule with muggles at our feet, no fool of a brother vill stop our progress, we shall collect the Hallows and rule, masters of death"

The face of Albus Dumbledore drained of color, evidently, the mental barriers he had brought up against their plans about his hesitations and feelings against this had been broken by the way Grindelwald had spoken about it. In his head, it had always been for the muggles protection and safety, wizards ruling, not with an iron fist, but with kindness and freedom. He swallowed thickly and watched as his brother stood and brought out his own wand. Clearly Aberforth was being controlled by his anger now, as his face was contorted to one of quite immense hatred and rage. A spell was cast by his brother, however, Gelert was a greater wizard than Aberforth, Albus knew this, and the way Gelert simply deflected the spell and directed it towards the family portrait that rested above the fireplace made him realize what the foreign wizard was trying to accomplish. With the destruction of the portrait, he was trying to show him that the family meant nothing in front of power, and was trying to show Aberforth that he meant nothing in teh face of the Greater Good. However, Albus felt a twinge of pain in his heart as the visage of his mother and sister were burned before him, and he knew his brothers pain well as he howled with rage.

Gelert cast a spell at his brother, but Albus, using his own powerful magic dispelled it and stood between the two, his chest heaving and tears running down his cheeks. He looked between the two, who looked around him and at each other with such rage that Albus could almost feel the heat from them. However, with him between them, no more spells were cast, Aberforth because it was his brother, and Gelert because he did not want to ruin the friendship and lose his partner and all the progress that they had lost. Seeing that it had ended, he gave Albus a curt nod, then ignored Aberforth, disapperating with a loud crack. As he did so, Albus slumped down to the ground on his knees and looked at his brother, wanting to apologize, but before he could, the younger of the two opened to broken door and stormed outside leaving Albus alone with his thoughts. He closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing, wishing that he had someone to guide him, the end of summer was coming close, and he needed to prepare himself, he and Gelert would be setting off soon, then, well, he would see if he could save Arianna along the way. Why was this so hard, not for the first time he wished his mother was still alive, then he would not have anything to worry about, life was cruel.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

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Beams of light burrowed their way through the slight holes in the curtains of the room, the moonlight was exceptionally bright, and if Albus Dumbledore had been a man who followed the word of Divination, he would have been a little more worried than he was, however, he took no notice, he simply sat, stock still at the edge of his bed, his hands clasped together and his light blue eyes staring into nothingness, he saw, but did not take in any of the information that lay in front of him on the floor. He could not think about any of this, his mind was awhirl with thoughts and fears, the angered faces of his brother and best friend, how they had reacted, and how Arianna had treated him since he had left her in the field. His mood had reached a new low, he could not bring himself to do much other than to think about what had gone wrong this summer. First it had been Elphiage Doge, his long time friend and companion, their trip that they had spent so long planning, the money that had been put into the equipment that they had acquired, although, for Albus, money meant nothing, it was not something that he worried about, not with other things on his mind. Then, his mothers horrific accident, the explosion that had occurred while she was attempting to create a remedy for Arianna and her ailment.

His sorrow at that moment had been immense, however, he was disgusted at himself at the thought of what he was truly saddened about, the fact that he would not obtain his freedom after seven long years of Hogwarts, after graduating top of his class, and winning almost any award that he could win, gaining fame beyond any other Hogwarts student, and now, trapped in his home with his mentally challenged sister, being unable to shine. He remembered being bitter at the thought of it all, he felt as though it was all his sisters fault that he was trapped here, and again, a wave of self-disgust flowed over him and he clenched his fists. Arianna was not to blame at all, it was not her fault those muggles had turned her into a...Well, he did not quite know, all he knew was that he was completely wrong for blaming such a sweet spirit, it was completely disgusting. Gellert, he was a completely different factor in all this, he was a true friend to Albus, a kindred spirit, one who understood the power that Albus had. His words, he knew how to coerce him into thinking things, and Albus knew that sometimes, Grindelwald had gone to far with his plans, but he had such a confidence about him, it made Albus want to think that everything would be right, that both he and his companion could rule the muggles and gather the Hallows.

Master of death, Albus had thought of this many times, the three Hollows that could be collected, although, unbeknownst to Gellert, the only one he wished to truly possess was the Resurrection stone, then he could have his mother back, and his responsibility over Arianna would be nulled, and he could achieve the greatness he always knew that he was capable of. Again, the feeling washed over his body, disgust that he wanted to rid himself of responsibility so that he could go off on his travels. But he could not help himself, if he helped gather the three, the wand, both he and Gellert were exceptional wizards, their strengths far surpassed most others, and the Elder Wand, it would only make their powers grow exponentially. The stone, although his companion had expressed many times that the stone and the cloak would be useless to him, Albus could only half agree with this sentiment, the cloak, it would not be his first choice, since he could already mask his presence well enough to not need such a cloak, however, if they obtained it, well, Arianna would need to be brought with them, if of course, they had not managed to find the Resurrection Stone by that time. The stone, it was his true want to find, along with the wand, the stone would make his dreams come true, and he could go on and rule the muggles.

A sigh reached his lips, at this rate, while Aberforth was here, he could not leave, since he had a responsibility to his family, no matter what his younger brother said, he did love them, and he would not see his brother fail out of Hogwarts, whether he wanted to or not, he would graduate, their family had seen enough devastation. Aberforth had often expressed the want to drop out and look after Arianna, and Albus would have agreed instantly if it were not for the fact his mother would be ashamed, she wished nothing more than the two to half a complete education, and Albus would see to that wish to its complete, although Aberforth would more than likely say that it was because Albus did not want to look after him. He felt a twinge of guilt, it was a common feeling lately, and nothing he could tell himself would allow him release from it. He gripped his pillow in his hands and felt like tearing it in half, things were just getting too troublesome and he could hardly bear it any more, it was not fair for him, Albus Dumbledore, to be stuck in a position such as this, such great things had been expected of him, and now look at him, in a position where his magical abilities would not be tested at all.

Steeling his resolve, he decided that no matter what, he would take Arianna with himself and Gellert on their travels, they would discover the Resurrection stone, and then Albus could call his mother back from her death, and then he could rejoin there family. Aberforth could complain all he wanted, once they had their mother back, the blond teen had no doubt that he would appreciate their efforts. Soon after this, the rest of the world would fall at their feet, and then complete power would be theirs, they would have to bow to him and Gellert. Alas, they would need to wait for summer to end and for Aberforth to go back to Hogwarts for his sixth year, then they could leave with no interruptions. As if they tried to leave with Arianna now, there would be an uproar and not only would his younger brother despise him, but he would break the promise to his mother, and he could not live with himself doing that, he could only do so much without upsetting his own morals. Turmoil was within him, but, what he was about to do, it was for the greater good, so what was a few hurt prides compared to the greatness that he and Gellert could achieve together. The Statute of secrecy could be easily discarded once they brought about the new world, and witches and wizards everywhere would praise them as their new lords, and muggles, they would bow down to them.

Standing up, he paced about his room, agitated, although now at least he had a course of action, he just needed to get word out to Gellert so they could initiate their planning. Now, how he was going to do that without alerting Aberforth to his plans was extra-ordinarily tricky, since the younger Dumbledore was now very angered and suspicious of all of his moves, meaning if he tried to contact his best friend in the normal manner, he would be confronted. After pacing across the room a few more times, he smacked his forehead in annoyance, of course, he was a wizard, it would be no problem to get his message across to the home of Bathilda Bagshaw, which, unfortunately, was across the small wizarding village. Pulling his wand from his bedside drawer, he cast it forth, expelling a large white form from the end of it, a majestic form breaking forth and swirling out of the window, sailing into the sky. Albus watched as his Pheonix _Patronus_ disappeared over the trees. With any luck, his message would be delivered to his companion, and then they could meet sometime and discuss, meanwhile, the blond teenager moved to his desk and pulled a book closer to him, a strange book, one he had pulled from the shelves of a small bookstore he had discovered in Nocturne Alley, after being sick of not finding anything in Flourish and Blotts.

_Magicks Moste Vile_, an odd book, one that seemed second hand, if not for the battered cover and pages, then the blood spattered on the pages every once in a while. It had piqued his interest, where Albus was not one to perform the dark arts of magick, he knew that, to defeat it, one needed to understand it. The spells and potions he had discovered in here were unpleasant, not things that any normal wizard should ever know about, however, Albus Dumbledore was no normal wizard, and he knew it, the only way he had managed to get this book without arousing suspicion of any ministry wizards was due to the fact his reputation in Hogwarts preceded him. The pages of the book flickered by as he examined them, looking for nothing in particular, as he had read the book various times, and he had found it most disgusting in most areas. In fact, the least disturbing thing about this book was about the most disturbing of all magick, the Horcrux, which, of course, Albus had no knowledge of, however, the mere passing mention of it, and about how it was the most evil of all magic did not catch his fancy at all. However, the book was something he did not want to share with his friend, as even though the teen was his greatest friend and challenger, Albus saw something in his companion that he did not trust completely, he could not pinpoint it, but he felt it better to try and keep him away from something as powerfully magic and evil as knowledge of Horcruxes.

There was a slight disturbance in the air as he felt a slight magical energy behind him, and he had just enough time to cover the book in old parchment as Gellert Grindelwald apparated into his room. Unlike normal, there was no sound, the way that Albus performed the space and time movement spell was very similar, almost silently, however, through research, the two had discovered that it was connected to their magical energies and skill, and while both of them were still young, they possessed

immense magical skill and energy, meaning that, while they performed the same magic as any other wizard, their performances of the spells would be greater, hence the quiet apparation as opposed to the loud crack most wizards performed. Albus felt his calm presence, but he knew that the other teen was unsettled, he could see it in his dark brown eyes. Accordingly, it seemed that the light haired teen knew what he was here for, and the slight smile on his face told the sitting wizard that he was exceptionally pleased with the decision that Albus had made, and his being here obviously meant that he wanted to discuss it, however, their current position was a bit to restricted, especially with Aberforth just downstairs with Arianna, in fact, it was lucky that he could apparate so quietly, otherwise they would have been discovered already.

"You called, Albus?"

"Ah yes, it is about our..."

He looked at the door, then cast a quick spell on the room, a strange one he had found in a book of mischief, _Muffiliato_, a spell which would help them talk in privacy.

"It is about the searching, and I think we should do it, we can leave when Aberforth goes to school to avoid confrontation, and we can take Arianna with us so that she wont cause any trouble"

Gellert looked positively horrified at the mention of having to wait, and it seemed that having a magically ruined girl to travel with was not his cup of tea either. He shook his head at the plan that had been laid out, he refused to have to wait because his friend did not want to upset his brother, and Arianna? What did he care if she would die if they left her, she was weak, if she could not even perform magic save herself, then she deserved to die, it was survival of the fittest, surely Albus understood this, as they were, after all, going to be liberating the front of magic and muggles as soon as they gathered the Hallows. Did his companion forget himself again? Did he forget what he had given to the duo about their plan, that he was the one who deigned all this necessary, that it was all for the greater good? No, the man was just having mixed feelings, and he would need to be straightened out, he would be reminded about why they were going to do this, about why it had to be done, and if there were a few lives lost during the process, so be it, and besides, if they gathered all three Hallows, Albus could merely use the Resurrection Stone to bring them back, and then there would be no harm done, although, why he would do that, Grindelwald did not know, especially when he could create an army of Inferi without having to waste his time killing everyone and casting the enchantments.

"Ve vill not vait Albus, I have vaited for long enough already, and as for your sister, I cannot allow this, she vill hold us back and create more problems than good, if you really vant to follow through with this plan, then you vill understand the necessary precautions that ve vill need, and bringing your damaged sister is not something ve can afford to do"

Albus Dumbledore was upset and angered by this, his companion had clearly stated his opinion on the matter of his family affairs, and that was that, however, going as far as saying that his sister was damaged and would cause them problems was enough. He rose to his full height and stared down at his friend, his piercing blue eyes burning with fury, and his body shaking. He was not a small man by any means, quite tall, and fairly well built for someone who spent more time reading than anything else. However, his size meant nothing, it was the power radiating from his body that would have terrified anyone, the waves of energy pouring from him, as though he was about to explode. Gellert shrunk back a bit, not having seen Albus like this, and quite frankly, it was terrifying.

"Don't you dare say that about Arianna"

"I apologize Albus, but you do understand the seriousness of the situation, bringing her, it would be like sentencing her to death yourself, she could simply not comprehend the situations ve could be in, and then, could ve protect her all the time?"

Albus understood that this was simply a cover, however, his words were true, no matter how exceptional, the two could not manage their affairs and protect Arianna at the same time, even if they did have the invisibility cloak, it would not matter. Sighing and unfurling his fists, he sat back down, to Gellerts great relief, then put his hands on his desk. Lowering his head, he closed his eyes and had his back to his friend.

"When shall we leave?"

"If you vill, by tuesday"

"So it shall be"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The room was deadly silent, only the breathing of the two occupants could be heard against the backdrop of nothing. The tension between the two was immense, both were staring hard at each other, not speaking a word, just glaring at each other, their hatred pouring from their bodies. Gellert Grindelwald and Aberforth Dumbledore stared each other down, it was the morning of the departure to Platform 9 3/4, Albus was upstairs getting Arianna ready for the departure, and foolishly, Gellert had decided to tag along. Now the two were at each others throats in the living room, and leaving Albus hoping and praying that his friend would not mention anything of the trip, otherwise it would be ruined, and all would fall to pieces, there was no way he would be able to get away from this with his brother in tow, as he knew that he would refuse to go to Hogwarts and to stay behind with Arianna, which he could not allow. This was such a predicament to be in, and it made his mind wander, why did his traveling companion choose now? Did he just want to lord it over his brother in an unsportsmanlike manner? He truly hoped that nothing had been said between the two, Gellert had a tendency to be unable to keep his mouth closed, and if he let loose now, then Aberforth would know of their plans and then the conflict would begin. Cursing Gellerts ego, he lay Arianna down and cast a sleeping charm on her, they would only be gone long enough for a ten minute one, so she would wake, and himself and Gellert would be back, and Aberforth would be on the Hogwarts Express.

He held the flesh between his thumb and index finger against his forehead, massaging his temples with the aforementioned fingers. He needed to face this with a calm demeanor, but the situation was growing more and more straining, and he was finding it harder and harder to keep himself together. Gently, he bent down and kissed her on the forehead. She wriggled a little, then settled back into a deep magical sleep, no cares in the world. Albus stood up and stretched, however, he was disturbed by a clatter downstairs, followed by Aberforth cursing out Gellert. With fear in his eyes, he knew what had happened, and this had become his worst fear. Pulling his wand from his pocket, he rushed to the door and opened it quickly, speeding downstairs. As soon as the door was opened he ducked a curse which burst into fire as soon as it struck the wall behind him. With a roar, Aberforth leapt to the side as a curse whipped past his head and disintegrated the picture of him behind him, the image of which made a silent scream and leapt from the frame before the curse struck. Gellert looked like a madman, his long straggly blond hair splayed as his wand arm moved so fast it seemed like a blur that was spitting out magic. Aberforth, only in his fifth year at Hogwarts, and was no genius of magic like his opponent stood little chance with his own slower and weaker spell casting. Albus was horrified.

Aberforth was bleeding from the nose as a piece of wall that had exploded struck him in the face, making him cry out in pain. As he stumbled backwards he was struck by a blue streak of magic which threw him against the wall and splattered like some sort of strange magical liquid. It was like a ball of glue which had him pinned against the wall, and now Gellert, with a large and malevolent grin on his face, his wand was pressed against the younger boys forehead. Albus, his wand already in hand, cast a spell so fast and so suddenly that he almost surprised himself, however, Grindelwald would be the one truly surprised, as his wand would be ejected from his hand and into the air, spinning and careening as it fell from the air, Albus watched, then deftly caught it from the air. Gellert looked at his friend with rage burning in his eyes, how dare he, he was about to rid Albus of one of his greatest irritants, and this was how he was to be repaid? He yelled out and snatched the wand from the floor, where Aberforth had dropped it, and fired off a spell. Red light lit up the room as Albus began to duel his friend, spells and curses were ricocheted across the room, windows exploding and everything around them erupting in chaos.

"_Crucio!"_

The last spell that erupted from Gellert caught Albus off guard, it was a spell that his friend had created himself, a dark torturing spell, one he had never witnessed the likes of before. Gellert had not thought Albus had known about it, but he had witnessed him practicing the spell on various animals when he had arrived without announcing his presence. This knowledge of what it was did not allow him to dodge or react swiftly enough, and he was caught by it, pain ripping through his body, his bones and muscles feeling as though they were being shredded by the spell. He screamed as his body writhed in pain, the searing feeling buried in his veins, boiling, everything screaming at him for to let go and die. It was sudden, but the pain stopped as the spell was released, followed by curses and flesh hitting flesh. Aberforth had leapt atop Grindelwald and had broken his concentration along with the spell. Now, fists were flying instead of spells, and both were swearing loudly, Albus meanwhile, was catching his breath, his wand lay a few feet away, as did Grindelwalds and Aberforths, all of them lay in the center of the room, and now that the two fighting had gotten away from each other, they were also staring at the wands. All three were breathing heavily, all of them standing only a few feet away from the wands and waiting for someone else to move. The eldest Dumbledore had a slight twitch in his hand, and that seemed to be like a starter gun.

All three of them launched themselves on the wands, each of them fighting for their own, a spell exploded, and all of them were launched backwards, clutching their wands. Albus had his left eye closed from swelling, the skin around it turning purple and a painful looking cut appeared above his eyebrow, blood leaking down from it over his eye. Aberforth was in the worse shape of the two brothers, his lip was fat and cut, blood was pouring from his nose, and it his clothes were ragged and torn, burned in some patches from his duel with Gellert. The final combatant in the room looked quite beaten too, having to fight two at once was taxing on him, and it showed, his body was shaking slightly, and he had various cuts. Now all of them prepared themselves, both Albus and Aberforth had their wands pointed at an unfortunate Gellert, who had his wand trained on the more dangerous target, Albus. No spells were fired, Albus and Gellert stared each other down with fury in their eyes, and Aberforth kept his wand trained on the side of the foreign wizard. There was not a sound to be made in the room, and not much was left in it to call it a room, half of the walls were burned and charred, all objects that had been in the room were now destroyed and on fire, it looked as though the place had been bombed.

"Albus, vhy? Vhy are you fighting me? I thought ve vere friends"

Albus Dumbledore sighed and closed his eyes, knowing that they had a temporary truce.

"I thought that too Gellert, but you take things too far"

Grindelwald spat on the floor, his face full of fury.

"I took things in the direction they needed to be, ve vere going to become unstoppable, if ve had to move a few people out of our vay, then so be it"

"But my family, Gellert, my family are not obstructions"

"Fool! Your family is vhat is holding you back, this unstable neanderthal and your decrepit sister"

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!"

Aberforth roared this last sentence and fired a jet of red from his wand, his face as red as the beam of light. Gellert was too quick and too skilled however, and countered it with a sweep of his wand, blasting it back at Aberforth. Albus was quick too, as Gellert cast the counter, he fired a spell of his own, sent it streaming at his old friend, who brought his wand up in time to deflect it. However, the movement was not quick enough, and an explosion rocked the room, dust and smoke coating the place, lights exploded as spells were fired in all directions, and voices yelling out, Aberforths screaming was unintelligible, Albus called out for him, and Gellert cursed. Three spells called out at once and then there was a high pitched scream. All voices stopped, then the youngest of the three roared no, then a final explosion of magic rocked the room, throwing Albus out of the window, Aberforth through the wall and outside, and Gellert out of the door into the garden. The house itself shook on its foundations and began to collapse, causing Aberforth to scramble forward and to scream Ariannas name, tears running down his cheeks as he dug at the wreckage, throwing the pieces in all directions. Albus too, ran towards the collapsed building and began to move things with his wand. Both of them were calling out for their little sister, both of them pleading for the same thing, for Arianna to be okay.

Gellert shook himself, staring at the scene in horror. This had gone worse than he could have imagined, and now, another death could be linked to him, and he had lost a great aid in his plans. As he took himself away from the broken house, he swore he would get his revenge on Albus Dumbledore for betraying him, their plans would come to fruition, and Albus would have no part of it, and he would be killed for the greater good. Getting clear of the area, he prepared himself for an apparation back to Bathilda Bagshaws house, where he would pack his things and be gone before anyone could do anything about it. He vanished with no noise, and was gone from the Dumbledore property. Meanwhile, Albus had discovered Arianna, and had called his brother over to him as he held her body carefully, as though if he let anything else touch her, she would break. She looked perfectly unharmed, as though she was still asleep under his magical aid, her light blonde hair moving in the wind, and her pale face unmoving. A teardrop fell from Albus face to her cheek and ran down her cheek, dripping onto her blue shirt, then more as he began to weep for his youngest sibling. Aberforth looked upon the sight, his face a mixture of disgust and horror.

"This is your fault, you did this to us, it's your fault she's dead"

Aberforth took her body from Albus and clutched her frame to his body, carrying her bridal style away from the house. Leaving Albus kneeling and weeping upon the wreckage that had once been his home. Everything had gone wrong, and Aberforth had been right, this was his fault, and now, he had no doubt that Gellert had plans to continue what they had started. He sighed, for the greater good. What a fool he had been. Bringing his wand up, he disappeared from the spot, he had preparations to make, for both Arianna, and Aberforth, whether his younger brother wanted it or not, he needed to continue hogwarts. A single tear was left behind as he vanished, falling on top of the wreckage, he could not be here for a while, he would return and fix it when he could stand to face his own terrors.


End file.
